It may only be for another 16 hours or so but Novak Djokovic is still unbeatable. Although today the Serb had a lot of help staying perfect.

Andy Murray served at 5-4 with the Serb’s 37-match win streak in the balance and a place in his first career clay final on the line but the Scot tossed in two double faults and that was that.

Djokovic, who looked dead and gone and physically ailing from some sort of hip injury, broke back for 5-5 and then took charge eventually closing out Murray in a third set tiebreaker to win 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(2) to advance to the Rome Tennis Masters final where he’ll meet again Rafael Nadal for a fourth time this season.

“It was a fantastic match and whoever saw it knows how close it was,” Djokovic told Reuters. “He played really well. I had to earn my points as he wasn’t making a lot of errors. It took a lot out of both of us and unfortunately someone had to lose.”

I felt Murray had a chance but after the first set it looked grim. I thought Djokovic wasn’t playing great but he still blew Murray’s doors off the in the first set. Credit to Murray who regrouped and scraped through the second.

In the middle of the third, Djokovic looked wobbly, tired and at times he seemed content that the streak with his streak ending today especially after getting broken at love to go down that break. But high marks to Novak for getting up off the canvas (or dirt) and gutting one out.

Now it’s a question of fitness with Nadal looming.

“I’ll do what I can, I have a team of people who will do their utmost to get me ready, there’s not much time but we’ll see how I play,” Djokovic said.

“The important thing will be whether I’m fit or not, that will play an important role so we’ll see how fit I am.”

And for Murray, this follows in a long line of collapses that will haunt the Scot who turns 24 Sunday. More often than not when Murray loses a tough match he regresses, let’s see what the upcoming two months hold for him now. Will he rally or will he sulk like he did after the Australian Open final?

“I’m one of the best closers in tennis and I very rarely, especially against the best players, lose matches when serving,” said Murray. “But I played a bad game and I made two double faults. It was good match and I had chances to win. He played very well in the first set and I did not really get into it. I think after that, especially towards the end of the second and third sets, there was some very good tennis.

“I can compete with those guys and I am going to need to play like that and even better if I want to win the French Open,” he said. “So I am going to work hard over the next 4-5 days to build up to it. This has given me confidence going in now. What happened tonight in terms of finishing the match off, it will not let me down. It is the first time it has happened to me and I’ll make sure it is the last.”

Best closers? No you’re not Andy.

As for tomorrow, conventional wisdom is that Djokovic is gassed and a fresh, healthy (un-sick?) Nadal will roll. Djokovic will mail it in, not risk serious injury and be satisfied to end the streak to Nadal knowing that he wasn’t 100%. And he could, but I’m not sold. (He could even withdraw before the match, that would really be a curveball – keep the streak intact, deny Nadal.)

Novak knew the challenge ahead of him down 5-4 in the third when he could have given in and nobody would have blinked an eye. But full credit, he still wanted it, showed that raging desire and took it.

And sure, Djokovic played a 3-hour match today but many players have played matches of that length and still recovered and won the next day. Yet in this new age of wussified players we don’t expect that anymore. And that’s too bad.

So tomorrow I’m going to expect Djokovic to complete the pre-French sweep and beat Nadal. If that hip is OK and he’s not totally drained (though he’s talking like he is – “I’ve played more matches than any player, so it’s normal that you get exhausted. I will do my best to recover for tomorrow”) I think he wins. Nadal hasn’t looked great and like last week, this court – it’s a fast clay court – helps Djokovic more than it does Nadal. That’s right, in this rivalry which Nadal leads 16-10, 9-1 on clay I think Nadal has a better chance against this new Djokovic on hardcourt than on the dirt!

Once again the key, for me, will be Nadal’s serve (assuming Novak’s fit). Because if Rafa doesn’t serve extremely well Djokovic is going to pounce on it and dictate the point from there. He’s a great returned, Nadal’s not a great serve and on clay Nadal’s serve is exposed and even Rafa knows it.

“The situation now is a little bit different and I think he is playing fantastic – he is unbeatable this year and I know that it will be a difficult match if I play against him,” Nadal said of Novak. “But, there is no reason not to fight and there is no reason to not play my best and have confidence on my serve.”

From the baseline it’s been pretty even now. Djokovic missed a high number of balls today but Nadal’s been making some bad errors all week, as well. And I think Djokovic’s backhand has been nasty and if Nadal goes back to that forehand-backhand exchange we saw in Madrid it could be trouble for the Spaniard.

Djokovic’s forehand has more firepower but it’s also more error prone, so I would expect Rafa to tease that side more tomorrow and maybe bring the Serb to the net a little where he’s not as strong as he is from the backcourt.

Djokovic’s second serve is attackable but Nadal just isn’t that offensive minded in his return game. Maybe he will be tomorrow?

And even though he calls Novak the favorite, it’s now Nadal the one with the real pressure. After today’s epic the pressure is off Novak. He can almost go into the match and have fun knowing the Grade A effort he gave today. But Nadal can’t afford to lose again on the eve of the French. Last week it was the altitude, this time Djokovic is tired. The pressure is squarely on Nadal. He’s the King of Clay. He’s suppose to dominate on this surface and he’s the one who wants the revenge for the beating he took last week in front of his home fans.

So if Djokovic has any gas left in the tank, tomorrow is the day to drain it. He’s come this far, he just needs two more sets and then he’ll have a few days off to rest. Why stop now?

In the women’s final it’s Maria Sharapova, who thumped Caroline Wozniacki, against French Open finalist Sam Stosur.

Match time is at 4:15pm local, 10:15 ET, which means under the hot sun in Rome (more trouble Novak?). Tennis Channel has the coverage. ESPN3.com will have live streaming.

She looks so happy in that picture. I swear, I may even want her to win more than rafa, she has struggled so and I feel if she can just win a big tournament like this she can become a major contender again. Maybe start her own streak? (not likely) but at least be a top five player?

However, stosur is tough on clay. I’m just hoping sharpovas champion mindset will bring her through.

She is struggled so in her comeback. I feel beating the number one player was a big big step for her confidence wise. And the match was totally on her racket. Woz had no answer for her firepower. I’m rambling but I was very excited!

I dont really get it
why, seem like, Novak really want to win Rome?
its cause him alot of energy, and may disturb his preparation for RG, is that correct because of his sponsor?
I think, win all the master series, is nothing compare to win one roland garros
Especially, if he get crush by Nadal at final today, will really wake Nadal to believe, that he can beat Novak anyway….

Sean: “Djokovic’s second serve is attackable but Nadal just isn’t that offensive minded in his return game. Maybe he will be tomorrow?”

Love how Djokovic has been playing so far, but your above statement is very wrong. Both Rafa and Nole are the serve return leaders. Nadal is no. 1 when it comes to 1st and 2nd serve returns, followed closely by Djokovic.
So what are you talking about??

…and the myth you and other anti Nadal writers like to create about Rafa being defensive only, doesn’t take into consideration the above or the fact that he’s been one the leaders when it comes to hitting winners also.

Once again, I urge you to do some more homework when coming with unsubstantiated statements. Let’s just enjoy these guys’ 4th final.

i am a nadal fan but at this point until Novak actually loses m match i’ve got to say he is better on all surfaces and the favorite in this match and ROland Garros. I would be in denial and a dreamworld if I didn’t acknowledge that. Don’t think Nadal is playing badly, he’s been in 6 finals in a row. Just someone else who is playing a bit better on all surfaces.

well good luck to Maria and Rafa if they get to play! I am off to show houses for a few hours, maybe i will get to watch the matches when I get back!

Murray is not a closer. Remember the Nadal WTF match? Federer third set of AO. Nadal, Fed and Roddick, Ferrer would have closed. And despite what everyone says about Roddick, he is a competitor and he would never show up at a GS Final not ready to play (Murray, Berdych, Soderling)

^ yeah I was thinking about that too. A little different though, Novak is in a much better place mentally and he didn’t play a full 5 setter like he did at USO. If it get’s delayed till tomorrow all bets are off for a Rafa advantage. It’s already kinda huge that it’s delayed till the evening time….

Agree with Kimberly & Sean about Murray, but doesn’t mean he can’t be. The way he’s played lately against Rafa & Novak proves he is capable, and Cahill has obviously helped. This is a guy who game was best on HC, and now has a formidable game on the dirt….nice to see he could be in the mix at FO. I am sure someone like Cahill is going to work on that, it’s a must.

“When the pressure is on in a big time match Murray comes up short time and time again”

In slam finals, yes. Hard to argue with that. But he has only been in position to close out one set in those finals. He’s not played well enough to be in that position more than once in slam final. Normally when he’s serving for a match he closes it out 95% of the time.

6 masters series titles would suggest that anyway.

I do feel there is a lack of context when people talk about Murray though. How many current players have even reached 3 slam finals? As a Brit I’m just glad we have somone competing for slams!

I think (and hope) he is finally realising that he needs to go out and win these finals, rather than just trying not to lose them. I think (and hope) he just needs a set in a final and he’ll be flying.

Murray will be fine. Danny, I know what you are saying; Murray has closed out some big matches, including Masters titles won in finals against Fed and Novak. Also, I remember tnat tight match between the two of them at the YEC in, I think, 2008. Murray won. So he is capable, of course. He has had a few nail-biters, like WTF, AO last year 3rd set w/Fed, and yesterday, where he did not close it out. That doesn’t mean he can’t do so, nor that he hasn’t done so. He will. And he will win a slam too. I believe it.

Maria looking pretty good. Anybody who watched yesterday, did you see her fall? Giant people falling is quite a sight.
So many are waiting for the day Murray brings it all together in a big match and wins his first major- including me!

jane – i agree, the worry is in these epic matches he ends up losing them at the minute. Not through failing to close out a winning position usually (the Nadal WTF match he actually broke Nadal when he was serving for it) but usually because he is too cautious.

That’s the main thing i want him to get out of. He has all the shots, and wonderful mobility… But he relies too much on the ‘counter-punch’ style of play. If he stepped up to the baseline and went for his winners a bit more I believe he could be a multi-slam winner.

He’s trying to change that mentality, he took it to Novak last night and was fractions from winning on a surface where he is weakest and never usually gets near the top players.

To those people who have trouble with the definition of “closing” (including Mr Randall) – in this context there is no argument. In this context, I repeat. Murray made it quite clear he was talking, not about sets but about serving for the match and then losing the. It would be so wonderful if, just once in a while, people would respond to what Andy has said rather than what they’d LIKE him to have said.

Daniel…agree with u re. “defensive” tennis from Rafa. When was the last time Rafa hit more winners than his (top 5 ranked) opponent. It’s very rare to see him hit more winners than his UEs! That, in my opinion is not no.1 like!!

i m not fully convinced that yesterday’s 3 hr. – 3 set match has drained Nole. Think about the Rafa – Verdasco semi in AO-09 that was something like 5 hr., next day Rafa beat Fed in 5 sets!
Of course that was on hard courts, but still i think many pros can handle it.

i wish they could show the speed of FH / BH, net clearance distance etc.
They did mention Rafa is hitting ~95 cm over the net from BH side, & Nole is hitting 56 cm
But they should show more scientific analysis of their games.

Ya I agree Ike.i was thinking the same thing..if Fed had a two handed backhand.. he would have beaten Nadal more times on clay I think.. we would have seen Moonballadal come out to play against Fed :O lol..

what is wrong with nadal playing like this¿????
absolutely losing any respect for him if he keeps playing like that..in my club there is a code not playing like a girl or grandfather …just a pain in the aaaa

That happened to me once in the juniors. This guy was playing aggressive against me and I was hitting everything back just as hard. Half way through the 2nd set he stopped hitting hard and coming to net. A lot of moon balls and junk. I tensed up and started missing. He ended up beating me. It sucked.

It’s like the quality of Djokovic-Nadal matches is deteriorating. The Miami final was awesome with both guys really taking it to each other. When I think about Nadal’s backhand in that match I think of those outrageous cross court backhands that he blasting from the corners. Now he’s moonballing probably 75% of his backhands. He’s playing pure defense, 20 feet behind the baseline, the way he played back in 05. And when he tries to attack on the forehand he’s missing more often because he has no rhythm.

I think he’s still in a pretty good position to win this match because Djokovic is starting to miss a little more and by the third set you’d have to think he’d be too tired to deal with Nadal’s incessant moonballing. Either way, pretty boring to watch.

I will be attending this year US Open, round 1, 2 and 3, day and night matches. Just to be sure I will see all Roger and Rafa play. But maybe I will go shopping during Nadal’s matches, out of protest!:)

Hmm, Sean, you said you thought Djokovic might be the one to tank the match in Madrid. Is it possible that these pathetic moon balls are Nadal’s way of tanking the match. Should they meet at the French, there will be no moon balling and Djokovic will be caught somewhat off guard?

fed is afraid Says:
the net exchanges aren’t as friendly anymore.
———————————————-
Same thing happened with Nastase and Connors. Nastase owned him and was all friendly then Connors started beating him regularly and Nastase wasn’t so nice anymore.

What a match point, what a player!
Novak!
Nadal has got to be PISSED!
but it is a great time to be a tennis fan. We are seeing phenomenal tennis- talent, hard work, confidence, and a gluten-free diet unleashed!

Nole is the first I have seen to completely nullify Rafas mosnter FH, as you can see that is like cutting off the head of the snake. He had to resort to moonballing, which was actually a good strategy. He got to stay in the match more than he should have as a result, but in the end proved he knew he couldn’t stand toe to toe with him from the back court.

Simply outhit Rafa with power and movement. Amazing stuff after 3 1/4 hr match yesterday…Congrats to Nole! Great fight from Rafa….credit to him trying to change strategy with the style of game he has to unlock Novak, although in the end, Nole was the man, again.

When Nadal won 3 Masters 1000s in a row last year, I wondered who in this day and age could match that. And now Novak wins 4 Masters 1000s in a row!! Maybe Roland Garros and Wimbledon next. That would be dreamland right now, still quite far away.

The question was whether Djokovic could validate himself by beating Nadal on clay. Who would’ve thought he’d be coming out of the clay season as the best on the surface, Nadal included. Heavy favorite for the French, no question about it.

For me, the King of Clay is dethroned. For those still unconvinced, it will be so officially at the FO.
Nole does it again !
Big big congrats to him. It cannot get better than this.
There was a time (back in ’07) he had only one or two admirers here, and I even had to go his site to invite them over. It feels good to see so many here today.
I think Djoko’s No. 1 is probably assured by the FO or Wimby. It’s his time now and ahead !!!

Still, I am so proud of Rafa! Kimberly, I don’t think he looked resigned to defeat. Throughout this match he never gave up, even though he was behind and being outplayed the whole time. He really could play smarter and try to be more aggressive, but he played well, and he played his game, and he never quit. Rafa Nadal is my champion, win or lose. Now, there is a lot of work to be done before Roland Garros — that is the real prize. A victory there this year would be the sweetest yet!

Dang – Nadal and Djokovic both speak Italian fluently. These fellas are amazing at tennis and pretty darn smart.

Nadal has a puzzle for the French Open – if he collides against Djokovic, now playing the best on all surface, he has to take it to Djokovic. Nadal’s the world’s fastest player but retrieving isn’t working anymore against Djokovic.

Means he has to serve huge and take chances, and pull the trigger. Flatten it out, go for his shots, play a different way on clay.

wow. i am now officially impressed. Nole has beaten Rafa on a sea level clay court in straight sets. that is unprecedented. Nadal had basically been unbeatable in Rome for 6 straight years ( one loss to Ferrero w/ a bad blister). Fed came close in 06 but now Nole makes it look routine. wow. Nole has all but sealed the deal on No. 1 for the year. if Nadal can win FO he will get himself back in the mix somewhat. if Nole wins FO it is all over. Nadal would have to dominate the 2ns half of the year as thouroughly as Nole dominated the first half to pull even. how likely is that. not very. Nadal has always counted on domination during the clay qtr and then be in the mix for the 2nd half of the year. w/out the clay qtr he has problems. i am rooting for Nole as long as he keeps winning Fed’s grand slam record is safe. i am perfectly happy w/ Nole winning 8-10 grand slams.

If you win two titles in a row on clay by beating Rafa in the finals, you are the new King of Clay, for the moment. Nole absolutely deserves it.

Modestly put, Rafa finally has a genuine challenger on clay. And French Open is no more given for Rafa.
If Djoko beats Rafa at the FO, which I believe he will if both reach the final, most will accept that the Serb not only will become No. 1 but also the new King of Clay.

RE: FO no more a given…..Don’t forget Murray has put him some good stuff in the Clay season this year pushing Rafa to 3 and almost upsetting Novak, and then throw in Rafa and Fed and we might have some welcome competition for FO, no? Hopefully it will be that exciting with Nole leading the charge of course.

tfouto…i hope Nole can & will win lot more GS but not sure if he can win 16. He is 24, thus he has about 5 years good tennis ahead of him. But, i don’t think he can win 14/20 GS, it’s impossible. i hope i m wrong, but i doubt it.

Nole needs to win only 3 more (relatively easy?) matches to have the longest winning streak of his decade :). On 2 surfaces. All the more commendable because of the quality of players he had to beat along the way :)

Another thing this last years, what one player does the pther duplicate the following year:

1 – NAdal won RG-WImby double in 2008. Federer won in 2009.

2 – Federer almost made RG-WImby-US Open (lost to DelPo, but was 2 points from victory) in 2009. Nadal wins RG-Wimby-US Open in 2010.

3 – Nadal wins the clay sweap in 2010, MC, Rome, MAdrid and RG.
Now Djoko enter RG undefeated winning 3 tourneys, Belgrade, Madrid and Rome. If he wins RG, it will not be a clay sweap, but MC lost the aura as in the past (not everybody play it, so the whole clay sweap lost it’s appeal). The fact is nobody did it when the 3 Masters were equal in importance, not even Nadal. So Djoko can somehow, duplicate Nadal’s feat winning 3 toruneys in clay undefeated in 2011. Amazing stuff.

But, will the same person win RG, WImby and US Open, or if Djoko wins AO-RG-WImby will have the same effect than Nádal’s 3 last year.

I think if Djoko wins RG it will be huge, cause nobody had won both this Slams in the same year in a long time.

@tfouto. sorry but that is a longshot considering that Djoker is 24. after 27 to 28 it gets much harder to win as consistently. plus we don’t know who else may come up to challenge Djoker. i seriously doubt either Nadal or Djoker will be where Fed is now when they are hitting 30. Djoker maybe. Nadal will be long gone. his game is not one for endurance. the oldest player to be no. 1 is connors at 30. the oldest no. 2 are agassi and connors at 32.tennis is a tough game when played at the pro level.

Nole is 24 so Nole fans get to enjoy the meat of the sandwich for a few years barring injury.

as for Fed i think this could be the year he slips even further at the French. depends on conditions and his draw. last year conditions were bad. but the previous year he could have gone out several times(acasuso, haas, delpo) and in the previous couple of years he had tough matches against Nalby and Davy in the semis. the fed mystique and a nalby injury may have saved him there.
i put my highest hopes for him this year at Wimby. the USO will be hard for him from now on. when you get past 30 it is murder to win the semi and finals on back to back days unless you get a soft match in the semis. Fed was definitely conscious of that last year at USO semis.

Dari,
I placed for Lower Promenade, I know it is where your noze bleed, but I attended Wimby once and seeing from above is not that bad. I was checking another site which offer for the Lodges (which tsome say are better than courtside) but it was more expensive. And the plan has some advantages int he complex.

^ This just may put Fed in a better position going forward to sneak up and get another Slam. With all this Rafa/Nole duality lately, me thinks Fed will be enjoying being under the Radar for awhile. It’s not like the top guys are blowing him off the court, he is right there, so I wouldn’t count him out yet. But TF76 says though, his time is runnin out, he’s gonna have to do something soon.

I’m out of words really, completely overwhelmed. I’ve been a Djoko fan since 2007 and I have had to endure two years of listening to people say he was a slam wonder, that he could never be up there with federer and Nadal. Well guess what, he’s now playing the best tennis on the planet, undefeated in 39 straight matches, won last 7 tournaments, defeated Federer and Nadal 7 straight times and is 13-0 against Top 10. Maybe he will never win 5 RG like Nadal did or reach the heavenly heights of Federer’s 16 slams, but what he has done this season is historic and nobody can’t take that from him. Nobody.

Thanks for answering my questions Daniel! Arthur ashe is a tall bowl and I don’t really wanna sit up high.
Ive gotten free tix outside the last few years, but have NEVER gotten lucky enough for a fed session. I think I’m gonna have to make my own luck and turn over the buckaroos this year.
Have fun!

@Nina, yes amazing stats, amazing stuff, and nobody can take it away. What sticks out to me is the 7 Tournament win streak and 13-0 against the top ten. That is WOW material :). Got to see him in IW early this year and watch him practice up close, he was pounding the ball with ease and working very hard. He deserves it imo. Congrats.

Rafa fans, take heart, if he wins RG it will cancel all the losses and he is still a strong contender, as is Fed. 6 finals in a row. Unfortuanely another guy is just playing better. But never give up hope! Rafa has risen from the grave before!

i dont mind nadal losin to novak :D :D :D
What a joyous moment it’d be if nole actualy beats rafa to win FO!!! :)
But that said, Rafa’s not playin his best clay tenis at d moment(and i dont think nole’s not allowin him to). Rafa looks just tentativ these days whil playin nole, n tense too, therefore unabl tk unleash his worldbeatin clay court tennis; he would not be losin in straight sets in consecutiv matches in clay to novak otherwise. Make no mistake, nadal’s exponentially stronger on clay in comparison to any other surface, and the same nole wasnt even close to nadal in USO! All is not wel with Nadal, for now at least! I can never forget Nadal challenged Fed at Wimby 07, wen Fed was playin close to his best. How can the same guy keep losin to someone like Nole! Am not takin credit away from Nole at all, Nole showed to the world for the 1st time way back in 08 when none believd Fed could be beaten at a slam outside of FO, nole’s that great! But as a most devout Fed fan(who has followed the great nadal closely since 05) I find it hard to believe that such lopsided losses of Rafa to nole on clay has everything to do just playin the best tennis of his life; i m observin dat nadal, as Colin observed, is startin to look vulnerable too after the wear and tear that he has undergone for so many years to be at top of men’s tennis, seems pressure and hard work’s finaly startin to take its toll on Rafa, much like Fed, and thats helpin rivals. And Rafa’s almoat 25 n has already played a lot of succesful tennis years n this is always going to help his rivals from now onwards, coz believe it or not, there’s a limit to concentration for any endeavour, u just cannot maintain the intensity once you’ve achieved almost evrything n unfortunately/fortunately nadal has already achieved everything achievable in tennis and there’s seemingly slight drop in his intensity to compete at the highest level and more often than not all that differentiates the player’s results at the highest stage is this very factor which i mentioned.